Elder Gods
"We are a race of watchers and protectors. The Universe is vast, but we were made to be vigilant. And vigilant, we shall be."-Kaostos reflecting on the role of Elders. The Elder Gods were a race of immortal beings created by the Celestials in order to oversee and protect the various dimensions of Existence. In the beginning, the Elder Gods were content to simply watch, and not interact with the various dimensions, but as time went on, certain events forced them onto the dimensional stage. After the cataclysmic Dimensional Meld, the Elders were then placed as advisors to one of their own, BMD, who had taken large roles in galactic society. They also served as protectors of the various factions, especially the Elders' Empire. History Early years and the Ram War No one truly knows when the Elder Gods were created. Rumor has it that the Celestials created them during the ordering of the universe. The Elders were the only ones who knew that other dimensions and planes existed, and were charged with overseeing them and protecting them from one another. Kaostos was not the first Highfather, but is the most well-known in recorded history. He was Highfather during most of the more paramount events in the past. When Kaostos ascended to Highfather, it angered a fellow Elder named Ramas. Out of pure jealousy, Ramas abandoned the Elder Gods, breaking their sacred traditions and beginning to invade and conquer hapless dimensions. The beings of those dimensions eventually swore loyalty to him, creating the Ram Army. Ramas and his army continued to wage war on other dimensions, conquering and enslaving countless beings. Kaostos and the remaining Elders: Cinta, Aforta, Balthas, Dyson, and Mischa, were forced to contend with their fallen brother. They rallied their those loyal to them, The Faithful, and went to war in order to liberate the enslaved beings. The war lasted for centuries, costing the lives of Balthas, Dyson, and Mischa. Ramas had slain them himself with a staff he had constructed using his newfound dark powers. The more dimensions he enslaved, the more powerful he got. His darkness imbued and augmented by the Umbral Staff, Ramas was near-undefeatable. Kaostos and the remaining Elders were forced to retreat for fear they would succumb to Ramas' weapon. Ramas was content to allow the Elders to cower while he conquered countless more dimensions. Desperate to replenish their numbers, and fearful Ramas would succeed in wiping out their entire race and order, Kaostos decided to have Cinta and Aforta create the new line of Elders. Cinta created Raphael and Sarah, while Aforta created Sheridan and Nicholas. Kaostos knew it would take time for the new Elders to grow and learn, so he stressed that their protection would be the most important task. They were kept secret from Ramas, who busied himself with his campaign to dominate everything that drew breath. Despite the progress and potential of the new Elders, Kaostos and the senior Elders still worried that it wouldn't be enough. Something different had to be done in order to defeat Ramas. It was customary for each Elder to create the new generation, and although Kaostos could've created an Elder on his own that would rival his own power, he decided to try an alternate method. He instructed Aforta and Cinta to combine their efforts and create an Elder with both their powers. BMD was the result of this union. Named after the Elders who had fallen to Ramas, BMD was to be the guardian and vanguard of the Elder forces. The five new Elders continued to grow and learn from the senior Elders. After many years of training, they were finally ready to join the fight against Ramas. The Fallen Elder was taken aback by the newcomers. He was ill-prepared to deal with new Elders and his forces suffered for it. One by one, more beings and dimensions were liberated from Ramas' and his army's control. Everytime Ramas would seek out the new Elders at points where they attacked, the Elders would already have retreated. Frustrated by the way the war was going for him, Ramas decided to attack the Elder homeworld directly. He attacked Koft with overwhelming force, forcing the Elders to fall back and defend their home. During the battle, Cinta fell to Ramas. However, the battle ended with Ramas' retreat. BMD, distraught over losing Cinta, mercilessly pursued Ramas across various dimensions in order to kill him. When Ramas was finally defeated, BMD was ready to execute Ramas for his crimes. Kaostos stopped this, assuring BMD that imprisoning Ramas would be the right thing to do. Angered at Kaostos' decision, BMD left the order, bent on finding a way to kill Ramas himself. Kaostos had Ramas imprisoned on the Nether Plane, a place where only the Highfather and the dead could enter. With Ramas defeated and BMD gone, the Elders were left to rebuild. The Elders were saddened by BMD's decision, especially both Sarah and Sheridan, who had been very close to BMD. Unable to locate their lost brother, they settled on helping the dimensions ravaged by Ramas' war rebuild. Opening the Dimensional Stage Rebuilding the ravaged dimensions took countless years. The Elders decided since Ramas' attacks had forced dimensions to become aware of one another, certain policies had to be implemented in order to prevent dimensional war. Thus, the Elders began to survey dimensions in order to decide if they were peaceful and ready enough to be brought onto the proverbial dimensional stage. Gaia was one of the first, followed by Pokeworld and Digiverse. Though they were all at different stages of development, the Elders helped each dimension open diplomatic relations with one another. The Dimensional Collective was created, a loose affiliation of dimensions who were under Elder protection. Eventually, the three dimensions took an interest in the small dimension of Hyrule. Though Hyrule was too small to join the Collective officially, the dimension still enjoyed all the benefits a full member did. Peace and prosperity came to the Collective members, and the Elders were proud of what they had achieved. They looked to a much bigger dimension, but rumors of trouble brewing on that dimension had recently surfaced. Faraway was much more volatile dimension. When Sheridan was sent to scout Faraway, she found the entire dimension in disarray from a mysterious cataclysm. The timelines of Faraway had collapsed on one another, and sparked an all-out war. Worse yet, Sheridan was horrified to uncover that the aggressors in the conflict was led by none other than BMD. The First Dimensional War The war on Faraway was devastating. BMD and his forces had ravaged and conquered many of Faraway's planets. Kaostos was wary of interfering in Faraway's war, but when he learned that BMD was a part of it, he quickly dispatched Sarah and Sheridan to the Republic's aid. The Elders' aid was well received by the Jedi and Republic, who saw ever dwindling hopes of defeating BMD's forces. The Elders convinced the Chancellor, Finis Valorum, to invite BMD to peace talks. Representatives from the other Collective dimensions were also dispatched in order to show unity among the various dimensions. Ironically enough, BMD had been to many of these dimensions, and left his mark. The representatives from Gaia and Hyrule had been intimately close to BMD, making things complicated. However, BMD's agreement to peace talks was simply a ruse. BMD and his forces attacked the Faraway capital, killing Valorum and nearly defeating the Republic. However, the Elders quickly sent reinforcements from the Collective dimensions in order to help stem the tide of the battle. BMD was forced to retreat. The reinforcements solidified the Collective's commitment to the war. Warriors from other Elder affiliated realms were also pulled into the war. Kelv Slantai of Dominaria, LE of Stronghold, and Digiverse denezins Rach, Holli, and Mic were inducted as Paragons of the Elder Gods. They were invaluable to the war effort and fought in many battles. The Elder Gods provided as much aid as they could, even doing battle themselves on various occasions. When the Hapes Consortium was revealed to be a traitorous state in Faraway, it marked the turning point in the war. Eventually, the war ended on Korriban, where BMD and his forces retreated from Faraway. The Republic rejoiced at the end of the war, but was devastated by the amount of destruction left in its wake. The Elders and Dimensional Collective did all they could to help Faraway recover. The Dimensional Alliance The Dimensional Alliance was formed when Faraway, Gaia, Digiverse, and Pokeworld decided to create a single governing entity. Hyrule joined after Queen Zelda married Lyndon Pilot of Azeroth, solidifying a union between the two dimensions. The five founding members benefited greatly from one another, especially because of Faraway's technological prowess. The Elder Gods continued to pull other dimensions into the Alliance. Though the Paragons had retired from their service, they were still influential figures in Dimensional society. After much of the DA's structure had been set, the Paragons went their separate ways, returning to their own respective dimensions. The Elders were content to part with them, their service was no longer required. Instead, they focused on trying to find BMD. With the DA ready to stand on its own, the Elders decided to focus on their own projects. They believed that BMD could still be swayed away from his dark path, and set forth to find him. Their searches were fruitless, however. BMD had retreated to the World of Ruin, a place the Elders did not think to look because of its desolate landscape and unremarkable inhabitants. At any rate, the Elders would continue to aid the DA during their search. Deliberations to create a central dimension in order to easily access the many DA member dimensions had begun. Digiverse representatives and Hylian representatives favored this measure, but many from Faraway, wary of BMD, were opposed to it. The Elder Gods supported Faraway's position, warning that BMD's elusiveness only meant that he was preparing to attack once again. In the end, Gaia and Pokeworld abstained from the measure, leading to a victory on the support's behalf. Although they had reservations, the Elders agreed to help the DA shape Centre Dimension. The Second Dimensional War As expected, BMD indeed did return to attack the Dimensional Alliance. Armed with a a near endless supply of foot soldiers, BMD tore through the core dimensions with a vengeance. The Elders could do nothing as dimension after dimension fell to BMD's armies. Hyrule was besieged on all sides, Digiverse had buckled and surrendered under overwhelming force, and Faraway had fallen once again into civil war. The Elders had no choice but to call their Paragons to them once again. Though they held their ground for a time, BMD's armies were simply too many to contend with. Fortunately, the very tools that fueled BMD's Shadow Beings also became his downfall. The Essence Pillars drew power directly from the essence of the dimension, creating founts of untold power. BMD was able to handle such unfathomable amounts of power for a time, but they had begun to take their toll as the Dimensional War drew on. The power began to rapidly increase his paranoia, slowly driving him insane. He would make blatant mistakes and failed to see flaws within his own plans. Although he had taken Centre Dimension and had established hundreds, if not thousands, of Essence Pillars, BMD was slowly losing the war. Eventually, Digiverse and Hyrule were liberated, and the Sith were being routed on Faraway. With his forces preoccupied, BMD didn't forsee the strike force infiltrating his base of operations on Centre Dimension. The Paragons, Elder Gods, and a contingient of the most elite of the Dimensional Alliance armies invaded Centre Dimension and broke into BMD's citadel. After a fierce battle, the combined efforts of the Elders and their allies drove BMD into a retreat. BMD's Shadow Queen, Tetra, was destroyed, decimating what remained of BMD's Shadow army. With BMD gone, the Dimensional Alliance fell into peace once more. Ramas Returns As the Dimensions struggled to rebuild after another devastating war, a secret organization had been plotting away. Sephiroth and JENOVA of Gaia had been securing the release of their benefactor, Ramas. It was revealed that Ramas had been responsible for creating JENOVA and unleashing her on hapless dimensions. Gaia had been the only one to survive her onslaught centuries ago. When Ramas returned to the Temporal Plane, he immediately reformed his feared army and set out to attack the still recovering dimensions. It was then that the Elders had fully understood their mistake. With Ramas free and BMD nowhere to be found, the Elders knew they were going to fight a losing war. Desperate to protect all they could, they attempted to go on the offensive against Ramas' forces. Although it had worked for a time, Ramas would simply move on to another dimension if his invasion failed. With seemingly unending soldiers, and the powers of an Elder God at their head, the DA was quickly becoming wary of the Elder Gods' failure to protect them. Some dimension would forsake the DA and ally with Ramas, others would attempt to secede from the DA, but would end up fighting Ramas on their own. Ramas decided to end the war by invading the Elders' home dimension. Calling all that would help defend them to Koft, the Elder Gods made their final stand. As the two factions did battle, BMD arrived when things began to look dire for the Elders. With his remaining forces, BMD bolstered the Elder Gods' lines and held Ramas off. The duel between Ramas and BMD ended the fighting, with Ramas near defeat. Ramas then gave his last command. All of his forces on the various occupied dimensions cuased the destruction of the Essence Pillars. Since the Pillars had been tethered to the essence of the dimension, the very dimensions that housed them began to collapse. With the world literally falling apart around them, the people began to rush into the only safe haven left in Existence. The people poured into Koft from different dimensions, mostly from DA member states. Ramas made one final attack on BMD, but the Elders helped shield him from the Umbral Staff. The shield caused the energy to bounce back onto Ramas, crippling him long enough for the Elders to reseal him into the Nether Plane. With their leader presumed dead, the Ram Army quickly surrendered. What became of the Ram Army outside of Koft, the Elders could only guess. New Coruscant The Elders followed BMD and his forces to the neighboring planet of Dresh. They renamed it New Coruscant and formed the Coruscanti Republic, modeled after the one on Faraway. BMD took the role of Chancellor, and the Elders remained as his advisors. Although many still resented the fact that BMD had indirectly caused the destruction of their homes, they begrudgingly accepted the fact that BMD had warned them before. The Elders were the first to realize this, and soon, they convinced others of the same. New Coruscant quickly grew and prospered, pulling ahead of Koft. The Elders suggested that BMD open up relations with the other planet, but many Koftians still felt that BMD was their enemy, adn refused any diplomacy. The early years after the Dimensional Meld were relatively peaceful. There were a number of conflicts that arose, but the Elders did not participate. It was not until BMD's disappearance after the Second Koftian War did the Elders take an active role in galactic society. Concerned with the way Coruscant had been deteriorating, they launched an investigation on BMD's Vice Chancellor, Wilhuff Tarkin. They immediately found that Tarkin had been selling secrets to the Koftians, who were led by then Prime Minister Lyndon Pilot. Tarkin was brought to justice, but the damage had already been done. Koftia, Koft's moon that had won its independence from the Koftian Alliance years earlier, was taken back by the Koftian Planetary Watch under Pilot's orders. The new Chancellor, Obi-Wan Kenobi felt that fighting another war would not solve anything, and that New Coruscant should focus on its own problems before looking to others. Though the Elders were displeased with how the Koftia situation had been handled, they did not go against the wishes of the Chancellor they were tasked to advise. Instead, they set their efforts on maintaining peace on Coruscant and trying to find BMD. As powerful as the Elders were, duty prohibited them from taking matters into their own hands, no matter how they felt. Vullarian War BMD finally returned bearing news of a threat just beyond the explored parts of the system of Adamantus. An aggressive and insectoid race occupied three planets relatively near New Coruscant. BMD's lover, Bastila Shan, had been capture years earlier during an exploration mission with several Republic scientists. BMD had gotten wind of where Bastila had been taken, and had left without word to rescue her. The Elders were puzzled by the presence of such an insidious race. Never in their thousands of years of existence had they ever encountered the Vullarians. The Elders sided with BMD when he urged the major factions to be wary of the Vullarian threat. Although most were mistrustful of BMD, some efforts were made to combine the Koftian and Coruscanti forces. The Koftian-Coruscanti Alliance was formed in order to integrate the two militaries. The Elder Gods pledged their services should the KCA ever need them. A year later, the Vullarians struck. The Elder Gods and the KCA were quick to mobilize. Corgus, one of Coruscant's moons was the first to be attacked. The devastation brought on by the surprise attack prompted the Elders to quickly evacuate all they could from Corgus. At the battle's end, roughly eighty percent of Corgus' population had been killed. The KCA was quick to counterattack, but much of the war would be fought in the space between Coruscant and the Vullarian worlds. After a long frustrating stalemate, BMD decided to use a secretly commissioned super weapon on the Vullarians. The Jedi Order was the most vocal to oppose the use of the Nova-class Devastators, which would completely decimate all life on the Vullarian planets. King Pilot of Koft was also in opposition of the bombs, but merely to impede BMD rather than having any moral stand against its use. The Elders did not approve of the use of the Nova bombs, but even they were tired of fighting a seemingly endless war. In the End, BMD launched the bombs on the three Vullarian worlds. Prior to their detonation, BMD had his forces broadcast an all out assault plan on one of the Vullarian worlds. The Vullarians, seeing this as an opportunity to end the war as well, relocated back to the closest Vullarian world in order to better defend it. Once the bombs dropped on the three Vullarian worlds, the war ended. BMD was branded a genocidal murderer and the KCA high command sent out a warrant for his arrest. The Elders' Empire As BMD and his forces fled into the bombed out sectors once belonging to the Vullarians, the Elders found themselves at a crossroads. They could stay on Coruscant, where half the people felt that what BMD did was wrong, or they could follow him into the unknown. BMD and his forces began terraforming the dead Vullarian worlds eventually making them hospitable. The Elders, along with many who felt that what BMD did was necessary, followed him to the newly formed planets. The Elders' Empire was established, spanning three worlds and thousands of different factions and races from both Coruscant and Koftia. Once the Empire was fully established, Kaostos decided to step down as Highfather. BMD took the Rite of Gods, solidifying his position as Highfather and allowing Kaostos to ascend to the Celestial Plane. With BMD as their new Highfather, the remaining Elders were content with being advisors and aides to the various beings of the Empire. Ramas' Return and Death Unfortunately for Existence, the major factions of the universe had not seen the last of the Fallen Elder God Ramas. Hyperspace technology had become rampant once more, enabling the factions to rapidly expand. With rampant expansion came rampant crime. Criminals were harder to locate, despite the Elders' attempts to help local officials. Many criminal factions would later merge with the larger, more organized Exchange. When the One-Sith Order broke off from the Old Sith Order, they also joined forces with the Exchange. Eventually, they also enlisted the aid of The Zerg as well as the remnants of the Vullarian Elites, who served under War-Coordinator Skyr. The four factions united under the banner of Ramas, who had been brought back from the Nether Plane. They took on the name Black Mirage, signifying their mastery of secrecy and elusiveness. They initiated surprise attacks on the core worlds and their colonies. The Elders quickly helped defend the colonies, pushing Ramas and his forces back to their stronghold on Char. Sheridan was wounded by the Umbral Staff, but survived due to Sarah's intervention. BMD, angered by how Ramas kept returning to cause his people grief decided to end him for all eternity. Gathering an elite team of his most trusted allies and that the most powerful beings in the galaxy, the Imperial Fleet launched a major offensive on Char. As BMD and Ramas battled, the new Highfather was mortally wounded by the Fallen Elder. As Imperial Agents spirited BMD away from the field, the battle continued, but Ramas' forces quickly pushed them offworld. Although BMD survived the fight, he went into a coma for most of the war. The Elders continued to lend aid to the KCA and Imperial forces. Ramas was kept at bay, but was making slow progress back toward the core worlds. Eventually, a plan hatched by the Paragons helped push Ramas' forces to a stalemate. When BMD returned to action, he led his fleets into a massive assault, breaking Ramas' lines. BMD had lost his Elder powers due to the Umbral Staff's attack, but was still adamant about fighting Ramas to the death. Sheridan, Sarah, Nicholas, and Raphael accompanied BMD back to Char as he and the Imperial Armed Forces did battle planetside. The KCA and Imperial Fleets fought Ramas' Fleets in space meanwhile. After the final fight, BMD was able to wretch the Umbral Staff from Ramas' grasp. Turning his own weapon against him, BMD finally destroyed Ramas once and for all. At the end of the war, the Zerg and Exchange were driven off, the One-Sith were all killed or captured, and the Vullarians were completely extinct. The Umbral Staff was placed on a shuttle and sent into Adamantus, solidifying an end to Ramas and his legacy. Peace had returned to Existence. Present Day Presently, Sheridan is the new Highmother of the Elder Gods. They had returned to their advisory duties and are deliberating creating a new generation of Elders. BMD, although not an Elder anymore, still has a voice within the Elder Council. Still based in the Imperial City on New Cretia, the Elders continue to watch over Existence, staying ever vigilant of any conflicts to come. Notable Members Kaostos Balthas Mischa Dyson Cinta Aforta BMD Sheridan Sarah Nicholas Raphael Bold and italicized Elders are deceased.